This invention relates to a building structure, and in particular to a transportable modular building structure.
Prefabricated transportable building structures have long been recognized as desirable. Many transportable building structures have heretofore been proposed. Such structures may provide conventional housing, in the manner of mobile homes, or they may provide conventional office, manufacturing or storage, in the manner of prefabricated metal buildings, or they may provide easily transportable and erectable temporary shelter, in the manner of tents or the type of structure shown in Hills, U.S. Pat. No. 3,968,604.
All of these types of structures suffer from major drawbacks.
Many prior art structures are made in such large modules that they can not be transported in standard eight foot by eight foot by twenty foot shipping containers or transported on a standard flatbed or trailer truck. They are therefore difficult to transport, particularly to remote locations.
The modules frequently require several persons or heavy equipment for unpacking and assembly of the structure. The structures sometimes require extensive site preparation. They require small parts which may be difficult to handle and tend to become lost. All of these problems are greatly magnified when the structure is to be assembled in a harsh or remote environment.
Most of the structures are not well adapted for long-term use. They tend to be of simple geometry, and can be assembled in only one internal and external configuration. This configuration is frequently not ideal even for the use for which the structure is designed. Likewise, the interior and exterior appearance of these structures is predetermined. They are therefore also limited in their uses. They also tend to lack great structural strength and are therefore of limited use in many environments which subject them to wind or snow loading.
The structures are difficult to isolate from their environment. They tend to leak water into the interior and to leak heat and air into or from the interior. They are frequently not well insulated or require difficult application of insulation in the field. It is thus difficult to make them habitable without the use of large sources of outside energy. They are also difficult to isolate from electromagnetic radiation of various wavelengths.